I never liked history and hated going to class to listen to the teacher drone on endlessly about all those boring dead people (usually dead white guys thanks to faulty history books). However, something has happened to me through the years where I’ve actually become a big fan of history. I have a voracious hunger to learn as much as possible about the past.
For example, I just love “The Men Who Built America” which covers all of the major entrepreneurs from the industrial age that helped pave the way to the American dream. It is such a well-made documentary with fantastic graphics, great music and excellent reenactments.
The series focuses on Cornelius Vanderbilt, John D. Rockefeller,Andrew Carnegie, J. P. Morgan and Henry Ford and how their industrial innovations and business empires revolutionized America. I love the production values which makes this usually dull subject matter seem hip and cool.
I also loved the way they covered the whole Tesla vs Einstein competition over electricity. It was very informative and interesting. I’ve always been heroes to me. It was sad to see how much they were both taken advantage of by the powerful and corrupt businessmen of their time. I guess some things never change.
I found it fascinating how all of these men’s lives impacted one another. From Vanderbilt’s railroads to Carnegie’s Oil empire to Rockefeller’s Steel juggernaut and JP Morgan’s electrical monopoly. They turned small risky ventures into mammoth industries like Standard Oil, US Steel and General Electric.
Checkout the trailer
Here are several episodes.
Here’s the theme song “Save My Soul”